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Ubuntu to continue using Mono

On behalf of the Ubuntu Technical Board, Ubuntu Development Manager and board member Scott James Remnant has clarified that the use of C#, specifically the Mono implementation, is not considered to be a problem and that it, and applications based on it, will continue to be included with the Ubuntu default installation set.

According to Remnant, the Ubuntu Project takes patent issues seriously and, should a rights holder claim a patent infringement, the board would commit to a review of the claim. Currently, the board has received no claims of infringement against the Mono stack and is unaware of any claims being received by any other similar project. As patents are generally registered to protect against litigation, rather than as an intent to litigate, the board feel that as there is currently no claim of infringement, the patent itself is not a "sufficient reason to warrant exclusion from the Ubuntu Project".

At the end of June, free software guru Richard Stallman wrote an open letter that criticised Debian's use of Mono as part of the default Debian installation. According to Stallman, "Microsoft is probably planning to force all free C# implementations underground someday using software patents". Debian developer Alexander Schmehl said that Mono had not been included in the standard installation.